Sixers sputter and fall to Cavs

Reprinted from Saturday's editions

Looking for their third win in a row for the first time since beginning the season 3-0, the 76ers faced Cleveland Friday night at the Wachovia Center, just two days after beating the Cavaliers on the road in double overtime.

There was one difference for the Cavs in the rematch, and it was a huge one: Cleveland took the floor with all-star forward LeBron James sidelined by a sore big toe. He had sprained the toe playing more than 53 minutes against the Sixers on Wednesday.

But minus its franchise player, and using starters Eric Snow and Zydrunas Ilgauskas for limited minutes, Cleveland still overcame the Sixers in the fourth quarter for a 105-97 victory in front of a crowd that was announced at 19,523.

The loss dropped the Sixers to 13-31. Cleveland, which got 43 points off the bench from forward Donyell Marshall (17 points), and guards Damon Jones (15) and Daniel Gibson (11), is 25-18.

"When you sit a guy out like LeBron James, you know whoever comes in for him is not going to be a LeBron James," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "But you have guys who step in and want to show the coaches and players that they can play."

Sixers guard Andre Miller recorded a triple-double - 12 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists - in the losing cause. Andre Iguodala led his team with 22 points, and Joe Smith came off the bench to score 15.

"It would have been better if we'd won the game," said Miller, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists at intermission.

Miller was the catalyst as the Sixers built a 60-43 halftime lead. But they were ahead only by 78-72 going into the final quarter. And the Cavaliers knotted the score at 83 on a baseline drive by forward Drew Gooden (21 points, 10 rebounds) with 7 minutes, 14 seconds remaining.

Gooden gave the visitors their first lead of the game, 85-84, on a short hook shot with 6:13 left.

From that point, the teams see-sawed to the ending.

A jumper from the right corner by forward Kyle Korver (13 points) put the Sixers up, 92-90, with 3:27 to play. A three-point jumper by Gibson on his team's next possession put the Sixers down by one.

The Cavaliers led, 95-94, with 1:18 showing on the clock. A steal by Cleveland guard David Wesley led to a follow shot by guard Larry Hughes (16 points) and a 97-94 Cavaliers lead with a little more than a minute to go.

The Sixers trailed by 101-95 with 17.3 seconds left.

"Our first half was good," Cheeks said. "Our defense was good in the first half, and our offense obviously was pretty good. The second half, they continued to make shots. We got a little lead, we didn't sustain it, but it's certainly something we're going to learn from."

With the nattily attired James watching, the Sixers had started the game in a way that would have had the Cavs star applauding had his team not been the victim of the onslaught.

He saw Sixers rookie Rodney Carney (14 points) go all the way to the hoop for a vicious righthanded slam after a steal by Iguodala. When Miller swiped the ball from the Cavaliers on their ensuing possession, Iguodala finished the play at the other end with another dunk that gave the Sixers an 18-7 advantage.

The visitors, who went 10 for 23 from the floor during the first 12 minutes, looked unsettled offensively as the Sixers kept them running to the other end of the court to defend their basket.

The Sixers, who never trailed during the first two quarters, saw a Gooden basket pull the Cavaliers to within 48-41 with a little more than three minutes left in the half.

But the Sixers regrouped to open the 17-point lead they had at intermission.

"The second half was just a mental breakdown," Iguodala said. "We lost focus."

FRIDAY

Cavaliers105

76ers97

SATURDAY

76ers at Hawks,

7 p.m. (CSN)